Finally.

Well guys,

I have finally been surfing (and I use this term loosely) in Hawaii. We went to Children's Beach. As far as places to surf in Hawaii, this is second only to Pipeline. You could probably tell there are pretty intense waves from the name alone. Seriously, though, the waves were 2-3 ft. The waves were actually a little too small to learn on. But I ended up standing for 5 seconds and then I fell off. After a couple times of me waiting for waves, standing for 5 seconds, and falling. I paddled back in because it was getting late. It was a lot of fun just to paddle out and be in the ocean. My friend Davidson is supposed to take me out this week sometime. So, I'll let you know how that goes.
I am getting really pumped for outreach. We have started to learn Khmer(pronouned Ka-my), the language of Cambodia. Some words are:

" Jom rip sewer" - Hello (formal)
"Socks a bye" - How are you?
"Kin yum chimor Dan Gerding" - My name is Dan Gerding.

So that is just a little taste of the language. I spelled the words phonetically so you know how to say them.

This week our lectures are on laying down our rights. The speaker is Don Gilman. He is a brilliant guy who pastors a church in Taipei, Taiwan. He also works with the YWAM base in their School of Biblical Studies. I will tell you much more about his teaching the next time I blog. Here are a few things I got from the first 2 lectures:

• Is the life I am living, right now, worth Jesus dying for?
• To the extent we live like Christ, that is how much we really know Him.
• Maturity - passing up immediate pleasure for long-term gain

I hope these things hit you like they hit me. I will talk to you all soon.

Dan